These Broken Wings
by SuperOreoMan
Summary: Max & Iggy have been Marked, but they both have strange designs and Max's is already filled in. And when Dylan & newly-marked Max stumble upon Zoey banishing Kalona, he recognizes her. Max was made to save the world; is it from Kalona?
1. In Desperate Need of a Coughdrop

**This is my first crossover; I'm **_**super excited!**_

**Sorry it took me so long to post this :'(**

**This story takes place after **_**Maximum Ride: FANG, **_**and at the end of **_**Hunted. **_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Maximum Ride**

…_I love you…But I'm leaving tonight, leaving the flock, and this time it's for good. I don't know if I'll ever see any of you again…My first and only love…The thing is, Maximum, I love you…When we're together, the sun is shining. When we're apart, everything is in shades of gray…The thing is, Maximum, I love you…I hope you'll forgive me someday for turning our worlds into shades of gray—at least for a while…I love you…You're my best friend, my first and only love, and the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, with wings or without…Twenty years from today, if I'm alive, I'll be there, waiting for you. You can bet on it. Good-bye, my love…I love you…I don't know if I'll ever see any of you again…The thing is, Maximum, I love you…You're my best friend…The thing is, Maximum, I love you…The most beautiful girl I've ever seen, with wings or without…I lov—_

"Max!" Iggy yelled breathlessly, his wings beating the air rhythmically beside me.

I looked over at him, his words breaking me out of my reverie. I hastily wiped my eyes, before stupidly realizing he couldn't see me crying anyway. "What?"

"The rest of the flock is really tired. We can't keep up with your…super-fastness."

I looked back at my flock—and noticed for probably the thousandth time Fang's absence with a twinge of pain—only to find that Iggy was right. Angel was panting, Nudge was _completely _silent, Gazzy was slowly lagging behind, and Dylan—who was also falling behind, since he hadn't known how to fly very long—and Iggy were trying to look like they weren't tired. But they couldn't fool me. I sighed, loving the feeling of flying in the open air, and not being the least bit worn out. But, I called for everyone to land anyway.

When we touched ground, everyone rested their tired wings. The chill of the air felt good on my wings at first, but it soon was too cold to keep them out. Angel was the first to pull in her wings, followed by Nudge, Gazzy, then me and Iggy. Dylan kept his out longest. Of course his wings were the perfect shade of dark brown that complemented his tanned skin perfectly. And looked enough like Fang's in the dim light to hurt.

Dylan. My "perfect other half". We'd decided to take him with us after Total and Akila's wedding—because us bird kids couldn't stay in the same spot for long. No matter how much Mom begged. And he was one of us now, like it or not. And no matter how unstable the kid was. I mean, he tried to _kill _himself.

I hadn't realized how late it was until I looked up at the sky, and was surprised to see that it was almost sundown.

"Well, I guess we're staying here for the night," I declared.

The flock sat down gratefully, and I internally winced at their weariness. It hadn't even crossed my mind how hard it would be for them to keep up with me and my ability. I rubbed my arms to keep them warm, and started looking around for firewood. It was nearing spring, and yet tonight felt like the middle of winter.

Iggy and Gazzy had had the same idea as me, and were gathering up dry twigs and sticks. Iggy brought out his matches and carefully lit the pile we'd made. Then he tucked them away into whatever secret compartment he was keeping them in; I could never find those matches on him when I tried. The flock scooted closer to the fire as one when it started to get bigger, and brought out their sleeping bags we'd started carrying around. We kept them rolled up, so they were small, easy to fly with, and you could put any small items that you wanted to carry around in them before you rolled it up.

For instance, I kept my picture frame from Nudge in mine, right next to the ring box that had once held the ring Fang gave me. I used to wear it on my finger—as a ring should be worn—but I had almost lost it in flight once. Angel suggested that I add it to the necklace she made me, and it felt perfect there.

A chilling breeze blew through our makeshift camp, blowing dark hair around my face. As I pulled it out of my mouth in disgust, I looked sadly at it's new coloring.

Right before we left after Total and Akila's wedding, Nudge had begged me to allow her to dye my hair and hers back to our original hair colors. You know, since we'd dyed it a while back to hide from the erasers. So I let her dye our hair, as long as it was just back to our natural colors. Unbeknownst to us, Gazzy had "accidentally" swapped the hair colors Nudge bought. Stupid nine-year-olds. So now Nudge had brown-ish-blonde hair—which she was happy with—and I had dark, dark brown hair. So dark that it looked black in dim light. Which I was _not _happy with. But I had to deal.

_I think it's pretty, Max, _Angel tapped into my thoughts. _It makes you look…older. _

I looked over at her and smiled. That's my considerate little mind-reading, underwater-breathing, animal whispering, freakishly smart and intuitive, mind controlling animorph! She was sitting cross-legged on a patch of grass, her golden curls swaying with the slow air current. Any onlookers that didn't know any better would probably say that she looked like a completely innocent child. And then I'd laugh at them. Really, freakin' hard.

_Thanks, sweetie, _I thought back with a smile. My Angel was so cute. When she wasn't being all creepy and prophetical, or trying to kick me out of the flock so she could take it over. Although, ever since Fang had left and said how she wasn't ready yet in that note—which lay folded in-between the ring-box and picture frame inside my sleeping bag—she had sort of gone back to the cute lovable kid she was before all this stuff happened. Sort of.

I stretched out my wings and let the breeze cool them before leisurely tucking them in. We'd been just flying around for awhile now. Nothing super bad had happened for a long time. No Erasers or Flyboys after us, no insane scientists yearning to tear us apart, no crazies wanting to use us as weapons of mass destruction; just freedom. And our wings had gotten a lot stronger from all the flying. The flock seemed to be able to fly longer and farther, too—even Dylan was quickly catching up to our level—although I'm still not sure if that's just because everyone was getting older.

Of course, we'd been trying to lay low, and not draw attention to ourselves. We occasionally went back to visit my mom and Ella, and have those delicious, home-made chocolate chip cookies! I _love _those cookies! With a burning passion, so powerful that an entire army of Flyboys couldn't stop me from getting to one!

Well, on the other hand…I think I'll just stick to being _given_ them. Ella even let me have the recipe. But every time _I _tried to make them, they were all messed up. It was really quite tragic.

"Max," Angel's soft voice brought me back to reality. She was suddenly by my side, looking worried. Great.

"What?"

"I can feel somebody coming, really fast, but it's not like a normal person. It's like—"

And then a man burst out of the forest and ran up to me with superhuman speed. I noticed that he had extremely pale skin—even paler than Iggy's—and a blue quarter-moon shaped mark on his forehead. I growled and pushed Angel behind me.

"What do you wa—"

"Maximum Ride! Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!"

He pointed at me, and the next thing I knew, my forehead seemed to split open in sheer pain. I clapped my hand to my head to prevent it from cracking. But luckily, I was experienced with my head going berserk on me, and this pain wasn't nearly as bad as those totally incapacitating headaches I sometimes got. Someone screamed my name—Angel, I think—and I could faintly feel hands shaking me.

When the pain receded a little, I opened my eyes slowly, only to see Angel, Nudge and Dylan standing over me. Dylan and Nudge were looking at me, then away at something else, then at me, and away again, like they were unsure about what to do. _Or who to help. _I jumped up—even though my head was still throbbing, and I was starting to feel slightly nauseous—to see where the guy had gone, and if anyone was hurt. Or worse: _missing_.

He was nowhere to be found, but Iggy was lying on the ground, like I had been just moments before. Nudge and Dylan were still staring between him and me. Gazzy crouched over him, repeating his name in a small, scared voice. I wobbled over to Iggy, to see if he was okay. He was clutching his forehead, and I knew that what happened to me must have happened to him. I felt my own forehead for a wound, but felt only smooth skin.

When the fear for Iggy's safety had passed, anger overcame me. I clenched my fists, and wondered who the _heck_ that guy was so I could kick his sorry butt back to whatever hole he'd crawled out of.

The rest of the flock was gathered around us. Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel looked really scared, and Dylan looked mildly upset. As I looked at him, our eyes met, but then Dylan's traveled upward. He stared at my brow, and I touched it again self-consciously.

"What?" I asked him subtlely. He opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Nudge. At least we knew she was okay.

"Oh, what _is _that? Does your head hurt?"

"Are-are you okay?" Gazzy asked me and Iggy in a small voice.

Iggy sat up slowly, his hand still covering his forehead, and nodded slowly.

"W-where'd that weird guy go?" he asked, cautiously.

"He's gone."

"Oh."

I helped him up, but everyone remained silent. Iggy was still clutching his head, so I couldn't see what had happened to him. But the rest of the flock stared at my_,_ uncovered, forehead.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"Nudge? Do you still have that mirror?" Dylan said coolly, his eyes fixed on my head.

"Uh, yeah," Nudge answered distractedly, because she was _also _staring at my face. "It's…right here."

She held it out to me, and I took it. But I didn't know what I needed it for.

"Look at your face, Max," Angel said in a tiny voice, her blue eyes as wide as saucers. Or maybe satellite dishes. Yeah, definitely satellite dishes.

I raised the mirror to my face and gasped in shock when I looked into it. I faintly heard Iggy ask what was wrong, but I didn't answer. Because on my forehead, was a quarter-moon-shaped, tattoo-like design with unfurled bird—or bird-_kid—_wings on either side of it. It was a pretty blue color, but it looked so out of place on the face I'd been seeing in mirrors my whole life. I suppose a little moon and some wings are better than looking like an eraser while looking in a mirror, but I didn't know why it was there. I didn't know what it meant.

"Hey, Iggy?" I asked distractedly. "Can you…um, move your hand?"

"Uh, sure," he replied nervously, knowing that there had to be something weird on his own forehead. After removing his hand, he said "I feel blue there. Is it a bruise?"

Us silly bird kids with our sweeto powers. Iggy can 'feel' colors. For instance, he can put his hand on a banana, and know that it's yellow. Or touch an orange, and feel that it's orange. But then again, _duh. _He can also see whiteness. I think. I'm still kinda confused on that one.

Anyway, he moved his hand, and he had a blue crescent moon and wings on his head just like I did. But the design itself was a little different than the one I had. The moon on my head was completely blue, but Iggy's was just a blue outline of a quarter moon. The wings around his were slightly different, too. His made his already pale face look even paler. I didn't think that was possible.

Nobody spoke. I felt bad for Iggy, because he'd probably want to know what the heck was going on, but I was at a loss for words. I mentally asked Angel to send Iggy a picture of it or something, and she graciously obliged.

"Oh," Iggy said quietly. He sniffed. I could tell his nose was starting to stuff up as he continued, "And…you hab one too?"

"Yeah," I replied, a short wave of nausea coming over me. Dylan steadied me, but no one said a word.

"Ugh, Max, I feel like crap," Iggy groaned, breaking the deafening silence. I silently agreed with him—my nose was getting stuffy, my throat was starting to itch, and I was getting a headache—but I wasn't going to let anyone _else_ know that. So I held my head up high, and pretended I was fine.

_If you don't feel good, you should rest, _Angel scolded me with her weird powers, and Dylan looked at me like he knew I was faking it. But Nudge and Gazzy seemed to be comforted by my feigning that I was fine, so I kept up the act.

"Uh, let's go to sleep," I decided, my stuffy nose altering my voice. We found a large tree, and each chose a branch. "Tuck in your wings, guys, in case he cubs back," I yawned.

It was unusually quiet; not just because the flock was for once silent, but there were no crickets chirping or lightning bugs twinkling or nocturnal mammals in search of food. There was just…nothing. I guess since it was late winter…but there were usually a few animals out at this time. The eerie silence would have made it hard to fall asleep under normal circumstances, but as it was—with me being all sickly and tired and stuff—I zonked within minutes.

* * *

I was awoken by a hand shaking me. I slowly opened my eyes, and saw Dylan crouching on a branch beside me. I broke out into a coughing fit when I tried to ask what the problem was. I could hardly breathe. What had that man done to me?

"What?" I croaked quietly.

"Listen," Dylan whispered back.

I cocked my head and heard distant talking. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but everybody sounded PO'd. I sat up to investigate, and broke out into another coughing fit. Ugh, even my lungs hurt. Dylan and I slipped out of the tree and crept towards the voices.

As we followed our ears, we could see a faint light through the trees. It looked like we were approaching the back of a building, but the light was coming from the front. I could hear some of what they were saying now.

"What are they doing?" a female voice asked, sounding alarmed.

"A-ya! What foolishness is this?" a man boomed. His voice sounded nice.

Dylan and I looked at each other questioningly. I shrugged at him, having no idea what was happening.

A different female voice said "Earth concretes" or something, and then the man shouted "Do not let the Ghigua join them!" I almost giggled at the strange names—A-ya? Ghigua? What cruel parents came up with _those _names?—but held it in to keep listening.

"Stark! Kill her!" the first female ordered. In an instant, Dylan and I looked at each other and jumped up to help whoever it was that she was trying to kill.

As we ran, the first man shouted, "Not A-ya! Kill the old Ghigua." Then the woman said darkly, "Kill Zoey. No mistakes this time. Aim for her heart!"

We were still pretty far away—keep in mind we have awesome hearing and sight—and I prayed that we wouldn't be too late. That man and woman sounded evil. He said something about not killing her, and she said she wouldn't share him. I briefly wondered if this was just some stupid chick fight over a guy, but something told me it was more.

I started coughing again, and had to stop running. I leaned against a tree, gasping for breath and choking, and waved at Dylan to keep on going without me. When I could finally breathe again—albeit just barely—Dylan was way ahead of me and the people were screaming to shoot Zoey through her heart again. What had this girl done?

Right then, Dylan and I jumped out from behind the building. Dylan unfurled his wings and we both shifted into an attack stance—I normally would have face-palmed at Dylan's lack of discretion, but under the circumstances...

The scene before us was one of the strangest I've ever seen—and that's saying something. There was a circle of nuns, teenagers, and an old lady with a wheelchair; but that's not the weird part. Although, I guess it is kinda strange for them all to be holding hands in the middle of the night. The weird part was that some of the people in the circle were connected by a silver strand of light, and a lot of them had that mark that was on my and Iggy's forehead; minus the wings. Some of the moons were red, and some blue; some were just outlines like Iggy's and others were shaded in like mine, and sometimes surrounded by other peculiar tattoo-looking things. I inadvertently touched my own forehead-moon again.

To add to _that _weirdness, there was a bunch of creepy half-bird things sitting in the trees around the people. And I don't mean like the flock's 98 percent human-ness and two percent bird-ness; I mean like a full out fifty-fifty. They were man-sized, but had claws instead of feet, were _covered_ in black feathers, and had beaks, wings and evil red eyes. And they just sat there, their eyes focused on the scene before them.

"Do you think the School did this?" Dylan asked quietly. Oh, yeah, turns out that Dylan was created by a small group of scientists from the School after it was shut down or whatever, but they went by some weird new name.

"Probably," I muttered darkly.

There was a man and woman standing threateningly in front of the glowing circle of people, and another man standing in front of them. His face was conflicted—and covered in red arrow tattoos bordering a red forehead-moon—and he was aiming at a girl standing in the middle of the glowing-people circle. The woman behind him was beautiful—with long brown hair, fair and flawless skin, and beautiful almond-shaped green eyes—but evil and darkness was radiating from her in huge, powerful waves. The man standing next to her was also extremely attractive, even though he looked like he could be forty or something. Which was kinda creepy. He had long, black hair, amazing golden eyes, was well-muscled, and…somewhat reminded me of Fang. Except Fang didn't walk around without a shirt on, and he wasn't old. Or evil.

The man with the bow—well, he sounded more like a very mature boy that had a deep voice at the time because he was super serious—said "That's what my aim won't miss. The part of my lady's heart I hold as my own."

The girl in the middle of the circle, who looked a couple years older that me, cried "Air, fire, water, earth, spirit! Hear me! Do not let that arrow touch him!" just as the man holding the bow released an arrow straight at her.

"_Move!" _I shouted at her—who I assumed was Zoey, because she was gonna be shot—when she just stood there, as I darted towards her with Dylan by my side. In a split second, heads turned in our direction, the arrow turned _it's_ direction and began to hurtle towards it's marksman, and I noticed that the big old guy behind the shooter had wings. Deep black ones; just like Fang's. I halted, and just stared at the old guy.

_How long has the School been around? _I thought in disbelief. I snapped my attention back to the arrow; but it was gone. It had exploded, and sent the red-forehead-moon guy flying backwards. But at least he wasn't skewered by his own arrow. What a temperamental little bugger.

Heads snapped in my direction again, and I just stood there like an idiot. Then I broke out into another coughing fit. Dylan stepped closer to me defensively, and I leaned on him after I stopped coughing and sneezing. I was gasping for breath, aching all over, my nose was running, and I felt like I could eat a whole herd of elephants then sleep for a year. Or seven. Some of the nuns almost stepped out of the light-circle, making sympathetic and worried comments about me, but the girl in the middle of it said not to break it. She then took the old lady with the wheelchair's hand, and said solemnly "And Earth completes."

As the group talked about blessing 'him', I stopped listening and just rubbed my aching head. I'd felt worse pain than this, but I just felt so crappy overall that I stopped caring now that no one was gonna die. I looked up for a moment, and caught the eye of the old guy with wings. As our eyes met for the first time, he gasped.

"You!" he exclaimed, looking surprised. Then angry. I wondered what I'd done to get _him _in a tizzy. I didn't recall ever meeting him before, but for some reason I just couldn't look away from him. It made me frustrated. He looked like he was about to storm over to us, when the old wheelchair-lady said, "Kalona, my u-do, this is my blessing to you."

The winged guy looked in her direction, and his spell was broken. I finally looked away, and watched the wheelchair-lady as she began to speak. She began to recite what must have been the blessing they'd been talking about earlier.

"May the warm winds of Heaven blow softly on your home…" She spoke with happiness. The five teens connected by the light repeated her words. For some reason, I felt an odd urge to repeat it, too.

"And the Great Spirit bless all who enter there…" This time I repeated it with them; there were more people saying it, now. Dylan gave me a questioning look, and all I could do was shrug.

"May your moccasins make happy tracks in many snows…" Now everyone within their circle was repeating the woman's words.

"And may the rainbow always touch your shoulder…" The woman's voice was practically dripping with pure emotion, and even Dylan repeated her words that time.

The winged man cried out in pain, and he was standing closer to the glowing circle than before. The evilly beautiful woman stood beside him, her expression filled with a powerful hatred. He reached for the girl in the center of the circle—who I now realized was sort of their leader—and sadly asked "Why, A-ya?"

Which just confused me, because I had thought her name was Zoey.

"Because I choose love," she declared.

The light connecting their circle suddenly snaked out and bound the winged man and evil woman together. He cried out in pain, and she screeched in agony. I could see the darkness surrounding her writhe and twist as she screamed. The man grabbed her and sprang into the sky with his powerful-looking wings, almost too gracefully to be real. The silver thread of light—which must have been more than just light—coiled as if to strike, then surged towards them. It flung them high up into the sky and the half-bird things quickly followed them, shrieking as they disappeared into the night.

Everyone stood and watched until Dylan and I _had _to have been the only ones that could still see them. Then the girl from the center of the now dark circle wearily thanked fire, earth, air, water, and spirit. What was with that? She turned to help the old lady into her wheelchair, gave her a hug and called her 'Grandma Redbird'.

One of the nuns started walking around making sure everyone was okay, but everyone seemed to have forgotten about Dylan and me. I tiredly motioned for Dylan to follow me, and we silently slipped back behind the building. I instantly felt worse the further away we walked. Dylan asked if I was alright, but I was to busy sneezing, coughing and holding my head together to reply.

I was just about to unfold my wings to take off and fly back to our camp, when a form peeked around the corner of the building. Dylan, unfortunately, still had his wings out. I—even with my feeling like utter crap—stumbled out in front of him, blocking the person's view—hopefully—of Dylan's wings, while Dylan snapped his wings closed. Total yelped in surprise. _At least he didn't talk in people. No, that's not a language; I meant American. Wait; how'd Total get here? He stayed with Akila… Wow, I'm really dizzy..._

The person jumped back in surprise at our sudden commotion. I started coughing when I tried to ask what the heck she thought she was doing, and could not stop. I kept coughing, and wheezing, and suddenly I was in someone's arms. It felt like Valium all over again, only a _lot _less pleasant. My chest was getting smaller and smaller, I couldn't get enough air, I felt like I was choking on my own snot. My head was splitting open again, throbbing as I convulsed and sneezed. And as I lay there hacking and gasping for breath, and trying to hold my chest and head together at the same time, everything just sort of ebbed away…

* * *

**How do you like it so far?**

**For those of you who read the other version, there are noticeable differences. Sorry if Dylan didn't always seem like Dylan; I just replaced Fang's name with his. And Total was here before, too, but I had to remove him. Except for that part at the end, because I thought the whole "talking in people" thing was funny.**

**And sorry if you're sad about Fang; but it'll work out better this way-you'll see.**

**If you'd like to see a picture of Max and Iggy's marks, there's a link on my profile that takes you to my webpage. Once there, click **_**These Broken Wings **_**and the pictures will show up.**

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


	2. The Meaning Behind the Forehead Moons

_**IMPORTANT NOTICE:**_ **If you haven't read the new and somewhat improved Chapter One, please go back and do so****. **

**Those of you who have subscribed to this story wouldn't have received an email about Chapter One, because it wasn't technically an "Update," but rather a chapter replacement.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Zoey Redbird**

I looked at the strange boy and the girl he was gripping tightly, and was suddenly wide awake again. Shaunee had gone over to see who they were after Kalona was gone, and apparently they'd freaked out on her, and the girl had passed out. From what the boy had said, she had all the telltale signs of a fledgling that had just been marked.

Darius had tried to take her from him, but he refused to give her up. I led him into a room in the Benedictine Abbey that could serve as an infirmary. Stark's still form laying on a hospital bed caught my eye, but he looked fine—at the moment—so I decided to take care of this girl first. I bet Darius brought him down here…

"You can put her down there," I instructed him.

I watched as he set her down with the utmost care, and observed him curiously. He looked back at me, and his bright, cerulean eyes reminded me of an ocean in the background of a beach photo inside a calendar. His shaggy, blonde hair just barely touched his eyes—he had to twitch it out of the way every so often—and he rolled his shoulders back occasionally, as if stretching out sore muscles.

I'd have to guess that both of them were about my age, but each was surprisingly tall. The girl, even with her unconscious face partly covered by her dark hair, had a very adult look about her. As if she'd endured far more than she should have at such a young age. Kind of like how I felt.

"Will she be okay?" the boy suddenly asked in a low voice, startling me out of my stupor.

"Yeah, now that she's with us she should be fine."

"Did she get sick because of that thing on her forehead?"

"Most likely," I answered. The way he said _that thing_ made me wonder if he was part of the People of Faith, or something. I glanced at her mark, and almost gasped out loud. Her mark was filled in and added to; just like mine. How did I not notice before? There were beautiful wings on either side of the blue crescent on her forehead. But, she had all the symptoms of a newly marked fledgling! Not to mention that this guy acted like it hadn't been there long.

"How long has she been marked? She hasn't completed the change, has she?" I asked him urgently.

"Not long," was his only reply. "Does everyone with that," he gestured towards her mark, "Get sick?"

"When they first get marked, yeah. Why?"

"I've gotta go. I'll be right back!"

"Where are you going?" I called after him, but he was already out the door.

He was back within ten minutes. Probably closer to five. This time he was carrying another boy even taller than him. The new arrival had pale skin, strawberry-blonde hair, and was completely unconscious. He an unfilled mark on his unusually pale forehead, with a similar variation of the wings that were part of the girl's mark around it. I swiftly led them to another bed, which he set the new boy down in.

"He passed out on the way here," the first boy explained. He wasn't sweaty or tired or anything. He wasn't even breathing hard.

"Were they marked at the same time?" I asked after I got that feeling in my gut that they had been.

"Yeah," he replied softly, gazing at them in worry.

"How long ago?" It must have been awhile for them both to have passed out.

"'Round five-thirty, last night."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Again. By now it was now almost 7:25 AM, so they must have been feeling like death itself for the past _fourteen hours_. It was a wonder they weren't _dead_.

"Are you _sure_ they'll be okay?" he asked.

"Positive," I answered comfortingly.

A few minutes passed by, and he suddenly spoke in an undertone, "Those bird things, and that guy last night; did the—School, do that?"

_The School? What does he mean? _He spoke of this 'School' with the simmering disgust that a Person of Faith spoke of our vapyric culture and our Goddess, Nyx, with.

"No. They, and everything that happened last night, is…a _long_ story." I paused for a moment, my curiosity growing. "What _is _the School, anyway? I've never heard of it. You talk about it like it's something bad," I noted, but he had shut down right after I said that I'd never heard of it.

He simply shrugged, crossed his arms, and leaned against the wall in between the two beds. He didn't say anything else after that, but there was a dark look in his eyes that didn't leave.

I sighed, and a sudden wave of fatigue began to cloud my mind. I stretched and headed over to Stark's bed, wanting to see how he was doing. I murmured hello to Stevie Rae and Damien as they passed me. They were headed towards the girl and boy on the beds. Maybe to talk to the strange boy. I never did catch his name…

"How is he?" I asked Darius as I approached Stark's cot.

"He's seen better days," he answered without looking up from his patient. I looked at the bandages now covering the gruesome wound on his chest. My heart clenched as I saw that the dressing had already been soaked through with blood and puss from the burns across his chest. Darius was removing the old ones and putting fresh ones on.

I reached for Stark's hand, and I swear I saw his eyes flutter open for a moment. I squeezed it gently, and got the tiniest constriction in response. He mumbled my name, but I could tell that he wasn't fully awake. As I was tenderly caressing his hand, Grandma called for me.

"Get well soon," I whispered, before meeting my Grandma with a half-hearted smile.

* * *

**Maximum Ride**

I was awake, but just drifting on the edge of consciousness. I could hear voices far away. I listened to what they said out of paranoid habit. The first to speak was male.

"She can't be an adult vampire, or else she wouldn't have been so sick."

A vampire? _Who's_ a vampire? Sucks for them. Ha! Get it? _Sucks_? Oh, I crack myself up.

"Her mark's complete; just like Zoey's."

What a strong southern accent. She must have been talking about my forehead-moon.  
"The other one has an extended mark, too, but his isn't filled in."

"Where do ya think she came from?"

"Where do you think _they _came from?"

The harsh smell of antiseptic unexpectedly assaulted my nose, and my eyes flew open. Then shut again. I'd been blinded by bright, fluorescent lights. My heart started pounding, I opened my eyes just a crack again. I was in a small room; no windows, one door. Which was guarded by a huge man with a blue forehead-moon. Crap.

I pretended like I was still unconscious, and scanned the room carefully with barely opened eyes. The first thing I noticed was the two people standing over me. They didn't look threatening, and they weren't holding any pain-inducing or wing-removing instruments, so I calmed down. A little.

The girl looked like she could be about sixteen. She had blonde, curly hair, and creepy red eyes. Her eyes matched her blood-red forehead-moon, which was bordered by swirling floral designs. The boy looked roughly the same age. He had big, brown eyes and dark brown hair. He was pretty tall, and had a blue, unfilled forehead-moon. The way he stared at me reminded me of a whitecoat's face when they were examining one of the flock. But not quite as evil and I'm-gonna-tear-you-apart-and-study-you; more like an interest to learn about me in an unobtrusive way.

_The flock!_

I sat up swiftly, and the two looked taken aback. My eyes scanned the room more thoroughly now. There was the boy and girl beside my bed—which, might I add, was a _hospital bed_—the tough lookin' sentry dude, the old wheelchair lady, Zoey/A-ya, two other teenage girls, and a red forehead-moon guy laying unconscious on another hospital bed across the room. It was the one who tried to shoot Zoey/A-ya. But I was too busy to note what everyone looked like, because of the still form laying parallel to me.

Iggy was stretched across a bed similar to my own only a few feet away. He was still unconscious, but I noticed with relief that his wings weren't visible. Dylan was standing in between our beds. He was fidgeting and switching positions every so often. It was strange, because my relationship with Dylan had sort of become like a timid version of mine and Fang's before…stuff happened. So we were just friends; promise. He was more reserved than before, but not so much that I was worried about another suicide attempt. Dylan had a place in the world now, and realized that he wasn't as alone as he'd thought. Or at least that's what the Voice said.

I shared a look with him. _Can we trust them?_

He gave a little nod.

Iggy began to stir, and I started to get up. I wanted to tell him where he was, you know, _before_ he freaked out. And I knew he would.

"How are you feeling?"

I turned towards the sound of the voice. It was the guy that looked like he wanted to study me. I narrowed my eyes.

"Fine," I answered tersely.

"Well, good. Darius and Stevie Rae are adult vamps, so you should be fine now."

I just stared at him. What was he talking about? _Who_ was he talking about?

"So, uh, how long ago did you get marked?" he asked when I didn't reply.

"Marked?" I asked stupidly. "Oh, you mean this thing?" I pointed at my winged forehead-moon once I understood.

It was his turn to stare at me.

"What?" I said defensively.

"Are you telling me that you don't know what that is? Or what it means?"

"Well, I wasn't _telling_ you. But since you asked, no, I do _not_ know what it means," I answered sarcastically.

When he just stared at me some more, his eyes bugging out even farther, I hinted, "Maybe you could tell me? It's been kinda freaking me out."

"Uh, I'll…be right back," he stammered before darting away to Zoey/A-ya.

"W-whaaa'?" Iggy let out a moan before sitting straight up. Anybody that hadn't known him as long as I had wouldn't have noticed the fear in his tense form. His blind eyes flicked around the room. I hopped over to his side and took his hands.

"Max?" he barely whispered. "What's happening?"

"It's okay, Ig, I don't think they want to hurt us." I assured him, reassuring myself at the same time. "The room looks like a sort of infirmary."

He relaxed a little, but his eyes still swooped about the room.

"Hey, um, what did you say your name was?" It was that boy again. This time Zoey/A-ya was with him. She looked really tired.

"I didn't."

They waited like they thought I would actually tell them. I had no intention of doing so.

"Well, I'm Zoey, and this is Damien," the girl said tentatively to both me and Iggy. "That's Stevie Rae," she was pointing at the red eyed, red mooned, blondie—and obviously not understanding that Iggy was _blind—_ "That's my Grandma Redbird," Wheelchair lady, "And that's the twins—Shaunee and Erin." A pair of nervous looking girls. But I didn't understand how they could be twins; one was a blond haired, blue eyed Caucasian girl, and the other was a dark haired, dark eyed, girl with skin a little lighter than Nudge's.

"They're not _really _twins," Zoey explained when she saw my expression. "It's just bizarre how…um, mentally the same they are. Oh, and this is Stark."

The red forehead-moon guy that had been laying on the hospital bed had joined us, and was standing defensively—yet in an exhausted fashion—next to Zoey. He had kind of light brown hair, brown eyes, was on the short side of tall—if that makes sense—and his eyes held a confident, intense, guarded look. He reminded me of us. But what kind of name was _Stark?_

_But, that's the guy who tried to kill her, _I thought suddenly. But they seemed all buddy-buddy now. Maybe he's got a split personality, or something.

_Note to self: Ask what the heck his problem is._

Dylan joined us then. Zoey examined us three, and I wondered again, _Where the _heck_ is the rest of the flock?_

"What's your name?" Zoey asked when none of us said anything.

"Jeff," Iggy replied.

"I'm Michael," Dylan lied easily.

"Max," I said brilliantly. Why did I never give a fake name? Iggy rolled his eyes at me.

"_Max?_" The Stark guy scoffed.

"_Stark?_" I retorted. He looked at me for a second, and his eyes softened. "Touché," Stark said after a few moments. I think I'm going to like this guy.

"Sooo," I began congenially. I pointed to my forehead-moon. "What is this?"

"Well," Zoey began, the poorly concealed surprise extremely evident in her eyes, "it means that you've become a fledgling." Iggy tensed up beside me, and I could only imagine Dylan's expression.

Well, what else is new? I've had wings all my life; why was I just _now_ getting 'marked'? And why didn't Dylan or the rest of the flock? But I wasn't going to ask—I didn't know for sure that she meant our wings. And even if she did, I hadn't known her long, and definitely did _not_ trust her.

"And if you're not near an adult vampire, you get really sick. And die," She added uneasily.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Wait a second.

Stop _right _there.

_Vampires?_

"_Vampires?" _Iggy voiced my thoughts. "You mean blood-drinking, and burning up in sunlight vampires?

"Are you _serious?_" I asked, not giving them a chance to answer Iggy.

"I think they're serious, Max," Dylan muttered from behind me when they all just stared at us. Again.

"But, there's no such thing as vampires," I exclaimed.

"Where have _you _been?" asked a very surprised Stark. "The whole world knows about us now!"

Well, obviously not the _whole _world…

A sudden thought struck me.

"Was it the School? Did they do…all this?" I dared to ask in a low voice.

"I already asked," Dylan surprised me by answering quickly. "They've never heard of it."

A curious look flashed across Damien and Stark's faces, but Zoey seemed to already know that she'd get absolutely nothin' from us, and pushed onward.

"It means that you've become a fledgling vampire," she continued. Whew, I was glad I hadn't spilled the beans when she said Fledgling. But again with the vampires…

"I think I'll pass." I crossed my arms.

"Well, you can't. Or you die." Stark declared. I narrowed my eyes at him as he continued. "V-A-M-P-Y-R-E. _Vampyre. _You're one of us now. Get over it."

Oh, well I guess that means _I've_ been spellingit wrong this _whole_ time. Oh, well. Not gonna go and change it now. And I'll just ignore his rudeness. I'll assume he was recovering from _trying to murder another human—_or as they liked to call themselves—_vampyre-being!_

"So you believe everything you saw last night, but not in vampyres?" Stark demanded. I rolled my eyes. I'd seen _so_ muchweirder. I am the _Queen _of weird. I'd even go so far as to say the King.

"Is there anyone you'd like us to contact? Like, your parents, or family, or anything?" Zoey asked politely.

I thought for a moment, and then decided yes. I needed to talk to my delightful mother about this.

"Do you have a phone?"

"Yeah, right here."

She handed me what I assumed was her cell phone. I looked everywhere for the stupid buttons, but I couldn't find any. What kind of phone was this? When Zoey saw my dubious expression, she said, "It's a touch screen."

"Oh," I said evenly, as if I knew what that was. I used my messed-up head, and tentatively poked the screen. It lit up, and my eyes widened. Where have we _been _in the past couple years, as technology advanced beyond even my own, astounding comprehension? Oh, yeah, that's right.

I had no idea what to do from there, so I looked up for assistance. Damien and Zoey had stepped aside, and were muttering quietly to each other. But the Stark kid was still pretty close. He looked _really_ tired.

"Uh, hey, Stark? Could you, um, help me?" I hated that I had to ask, but c'mon! Who would make a phone with _no buttons? _Iggy snickered from behind me.

"Sure." Stark took the phone, and started messing with it so confidently that it _must _have been his, not Zoey's.

"Here." When he held it out to me, it was at a dialing pad. I gratefully reached for it, and wondered again what was with him. He had a really funny look on his face.

As the skin of my hand just barely grazed his, I felt a bolt of electricity run through me. I was thrust forward, like I had been sucked into him through his hand. But I hadn't moved; it was more like my spirit or soul or whatever you want to call it. My 'Inner Max'. But whatever it was, I could see him—the _true_ Stark.

I felt his dedication to Zoey. His deep, overwhelming love for her. His overpowering desire to keep her safe, and to always be near her. I could also see that he was jealous of some other guy that Zoey was in a relationship with, but he tolerated him. I think his name was some kind of candy bar—like, Reese, or Heath or something. I felt his hatred towards another, different guy in Zoey's life—jeez, what was _her_ deal?—and guilt for some of his past actions. He was afraid he would fall into the darkness he'd been in before Zoey had saved him. I felt how much he missed his big, yellow lab, Duchess, and how—

Suddenly the onslaught of information slammed to a halt, and I was thrown backwards as I jerked away from his touch. But I wasn't the least bit off balance, and I could tell that my body hadn't move at all. All that from hardly touching Stark for a fraction of a second. I blinked in surprise, and looked to see his face. It was completely impassive, like he hadn't known I was just peeking at his soul.

_How did I _do_ that?_

_Well, Max, you've been given a new ability, _chimed the little Voice in my head.

Except it sounded different than normal. And when it talked, it felt like a feather stroking my brain—yeah, _that _that sounds healthy—rather than the usual ouch-ness.

_Long time, no hear, _I thought sourly. The last time the Voice and I had had a chat was about a week ago. Bugging me to go try to save the world. _Again. _Quite frankly, it was getting mucho annoyingo.

_That _wasn't_ me, _the Voice I was more accustomed to said distastefully. Wait a second…

_That's right, Max. Make room, _The newest Voice said.

Oh, dear Lord. Please, _no_! One voice in my head was _waaaay_ more than enough! What did I do to deserve this?

_I _do_ agree. _Voice one muttered unhappily. Now that I thought about it, the newest voice sounded deeper. And, strangely enough, as if it _belonged _in my head. I wonder what that said about my sanity…

_You're going to save the world, Max, _the deeper, feathery Voice declared.

_I could have told her that, _Voice numero uno argued.

_You have. _I replied bluntly, too shocked to say anything else.

And no one seemed to notice the inner turmoil I was in as I talked to the Voices in my head. Before you know it, I'm gonna have to _name_ them all.

And you thought I was crazy before.

* * *

**I would very much like reviews. Tell me what you think of the new twist…or what you think might happen…**

**(PS, Something insanely funny just might happen in the next few chapters...hehe...)**

**PPS, What do you think of the summary for this story? I was looking back on it, and I _could/might_ re-do it, but they don't give you much room...**

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


	3. Sleeping, Waking Up, & Other Such Things

**Hey guys, sorry it took so long for this chapter.**

**I don't own HON or Maximum Ride (this is my disclaimer for the entire story).**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Maximum Ride**

"Max…?"

"What?" I answered sharply.

My head snapped up to meet the intense gaze of two deep brown eyes. Stark's hand was still stretched towards me, trying to give me the phone. And he was giving me a really weird look, which I'm sure my face mirrored.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks," I muttered, cautiously snatching the phone from him. I was careful not to touch him this time.

After he moved away, I tentatively started poking in my mother's phone number, and then warily put it up to my ear. A wide smile spread across my face when I heard it ringing. _Yes!_

As it rang, I thought about what had just happened. I had hardly touched him at all, and suddenly I knew all his innermost thoughts and feelings. And the Voice—the newest one—had said it was a new ability. But did that mean I could never touch anyone without being bombarded with…their mind?

_"Hello?" _

"Mom!" I answered; glad for the distraction, and to hear my mom's voice. Not that I needed to hear any more voices than I already did…

_"Max? Is that you?"_

"Yeah."

_"It's good to hear from you! Tell everybody that I said hi!"_

"Sure will."

"_So, what have you guys been up to? Where are you?"_

"Uh…" I tilted the phone away from my mouth and walked towards Zoey and Damien. "Um, where exactly are we?"

"Tulsa, Oklahoma," Zoey answered casually. I thanked her, then—being the super paranoid bird-child I am—walked away again.

"Tulsa, Oklahoma," I repeated to my mom.

"_Oh, wow. Well, what do you need?"_

"Um," I began, not really knowing how to explain. I mean, how do you tell your mother that you're a vampyre? "Well, I guess you could say we've hit a little speed bump."

"_What do you mean, sweetie? Is everything okay?"_

"Well…yeah." But it wasn't. Iggy and I couldn't leave this place, and the flock couldn't really stay. So I added a "Sort of," for good measure.

"_Do you want to talk about it?" _she pressed, since I hadn't really given her anything to work with.

"Sure. Um, well, it turns out that I…well, Iggy and I, have been…marked or something."

"_You mean…"_

"I guess I'm going to be a vampyre."

"_Oh."_

I sat down, suddenly feeling the weight of the entire situation. What was going to happen to the flock? Heck, what was going to happen to me and Iggy? Would we burn in the sunlight? Have to sleep in coffins? Worse yet, would we have to drink…_blood? _

_Gross._

"And…they said we can't leave, either," I told her, hoping for a minute that it wasn't true; that they were making up, and that the whole flock could just leave this place together.

"_Not until you're an adult…vampyre," _she answered, confirming my worst fears. _"You have to be near one at all times, or you could d…die."_

"Then what'll happen to the flock?" I whispered urgently, not wanting anyone to hear me be so…well, scared.

"_I don't know, sweetheart. They could come stay with me—at least until you're finished with school."_

"School? What do you mean?"

"_Didn't they tell you? You'll have to attend their school—you'll learn all about their history, culture, the changes your body will undergo—"_ She suddenly sounded waaaay too interested, not to mention like one of those awful books on puberty. On the other hand, she _is_ a scientist, but that still didn't change the fact that we would have to go to their stupid school, and the last time I went to school, it hadn't ended so well…

"Ugh, Mom, do I _have_ to?" I begged my mom, sounding like a child even to myself.

"Hey Max, it might be a good idea to get some sleep," Dylan came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder, making me jerk away from his touch. I was prepared for the bout of his mind I was about to get, but it never came.

"Are you okay?" Dylan asked me quietly.

"Gotta go, Mom," I apologized. "Bye."

And then, of course, I didn't know how to turn the darned thing off. How humiliating. I decided I'd just hand it back to him—no, wait; my mom's number was still in it. I sighed. That meant I'd have to hang up _and _delete the history. Hmm, let's see…

* * *

I hardly slept at all that night. It just didn't feel like I should be sleeping; almost like it was daytime. I wondered if that was a new vampyre thing.

Everyone had left after I'd returned Stark's phone. Even Stark—although he probably should have been in here, since he had just gotten blasted by an exploding arrow and all—so it was just Iggy, Dylan, and me. Just as I was beginning to feel tired, someone knocked lightly on the door, and it opened. One of the nuns that had been in the weird circley thing from the night before poked her head in. I gave a huge yawn and sat up as she entered, carrying a pile of what looked like clothes.

"Max, is it?" she asked in a soft voice. I nodded. She smiled warmly at me as well as Iggy and Dylan's stirring forms, and I instantly liked her. "Well, I'm Sister Mary Angela. I'd shake your hand, but both of mine are preoccupied at the moment."

"It's nice to meet you, uh, Sister," I greeted awkwardly. I swiftly took the clothes from her and dumped them on my bed. "Do you know about what time it is?"

"A quarter after seven," she started with a sigh. "I tell you, these vampyre hours are going to be the death of me."

"So, it's seven…pm?"

"Yes. Time to get up, according to them."

So the sleeplessness _was_ because of vampyreness, just not in the way I'd thought. It was because _they_ were all vampyres, not because _I_ was a vampyre.

"But anyway, I brought you these clothes; I wasn't sure what size you wore, and we have a very limited selection, but, I brought all I could carry."

"Thanks, Sister Mary Angela," I began, looking down at the clothing. "We could use some new—well, clean—clothes."

When I looked up again, she was nearly out the door and paused only to tell me that there was a bathroom just a few doors down.

I returned to the pile—no, mountain—of clothes on my bed, and wondered how that little old lady had carried it all. I began sorting through it; shirts in one mini-pile, pants in another, and undergarments in another. I quickly grabbed clothes that looked close to my size, and hurried into the bathroom. I wanted to get back to the flock as quick as I could.

As soon as I was sure—and double-sure—that the door was efficiently locked, I squirmed out of my jacket and shirt, and spread my wings as best I could in the cramped little room. This turned out to be standing at one side of the room with one wing unfolded, then turning over and stretching out the other; one at a time. It felt _sooo_ good to be able to stretch out my wings—however limited the space—because the whole time we'd been here I'd been pulling them tightly against my back. And for not getting any sleep, I felt pretty good.

And then I saw my face in the mirror.

The saphire blue pattern exploding across my face made my skin seem lighter. I examined its intricate design, and touched each wing from either side. I had noticed that of the few vampyres that had symbols surrounding their forehead-moon, none were of wings. I had inferred that each design represented something about the person it adorned. Stark's had arrows, and, from the scene I had witnessed the night before, he seemed to be a skilled marksman. Stevie something-or-other's had a swirling, sort of floral type of pattern, and I overheard someone something about her "affinity for earth". Zoey's marks—although they didn't seem to represent anything specific—were all over her body, and I could tell that she held some position of power. I could only hope that the wings around my forehead-moon wouldn't result in any questions about…well, about anything.

I hastily threw on some clothes, finger-combed through my relatively knotted hair, swished the nasty asleep-for-a-very-long-time taste from my mouth, and threw my jacket back on. It was kind of gross-looking I guess, but it was great for covering up those spur-of-the-moment wing holes in my shirt. I looked in the mirror to see how loose I could allow my wings to get without them being noticeable. To my satisfaction, it was a very comfortable position, but I pulled them a bit closer anyway.

"Alright guys," I started as soon as I entered the room again, scratching my wing, "Get ready to move out; we're gonna go meet the flock."

"But…they said that we couldn't survive without being near a vampyre," Iggy argued. "Even your mom said so."

"We'll come _back,"_ I replied impatiently, only fairly annoyed that he'd been eavesdropping on my call. "But we can't leave them out there; they're just a bunch of kids."

"A bunch of highly trained, butt-kicking kids," Iggy added with a half-grin.

"With awesome powers," Dylan continued.

"Fine; a bunch of highly trained, butt-kicking kids with awesome powers," I concluded, smiling big at my two flockmates. "But still…just kids. And they'll be a bunch of really _antsy_ highly trained, butt-kicking kids with _annoying _powers if we don't get back to them soon."

"Where will you guys go?" Iggy said quietly, addressing Dylan.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, while Max and I are here…where will you, Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge go?"

"I'm not going anywhere. We're staying with you guys."

"But you can't just hang around," I told him. "A bunch of obviously unrelated, homeless children of different ages loitering outside a vampyre school all day? I don't think so."

Dylan opened his mouth to reply, but quick footsteps coming down the hallway interrupted him so he snapped it shut. Iggy and I stiffened automatically, and I quickly muttered, "Look, I don't want us to split up either; there's been too much of that lately. But the other option isn't any better." The doorknob turned, and I finished, "We'll talk about it later."

A blonde teenager with flashy blue eyes poked her head into the room. Her face was expertly masked with a look of indifference, but hidden underneath it was one of curiosity.

"Hey, if you guys are hungry or something, breakfast's ready," she called, opening the door wider so we could watch her study her nails.

"Thanks," I replied quickly. "We—"

I was rudely interrupted by an enormous groan from my stomach. I guess I'd forgotten how hungry I was because of the stressful situation I was in. I heard a snicker from behind be, and turned to glare at Dylan and Iggy, unsure which had mocked me, but knowing both would pay…

"We'll be right there," Iggy finished with a smirk.

The blonde looked at me as if deciding whether to laugh or continue pretending her indifference, and settled for halfway in between; a sneer. Somehow, it seemed natural in a sort of practiced way, and very at home on her flawless face.

"Well, you'd better hurry before it's all gone…" she trailed off as she turned and started walking away.

"Food? Gone? Before I get some?" Iggy said, now alert. "Not on _my _watch…"

I smiled, and started to follow wherever the girl had gone. Iggy followed behind me, listening for my footsteps and just barely using his hands to navigate. Dylan came last, murmuring "A bit left," or "Little to your right," when Iggy got off-track. Under normal circumstances, this would have earned him a nasty retort, but if Iggy was as hungry and still slightly weakened from the night before as I was, he was grateful for the slight guidance.

I couldn't see the girl anymore, but the mouthwatering scent of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and—were those…_pancakes_?—led us straight there. I scratched my wing as I walked into the dining room, high off the smells of _food. _When _had_ we eaten last?

As I headed over to grab a plate, the room became noticeably quieter. That somewhat sobered me, and I was on high alert again. I could tell we had entered an atmosphere that was already tense, and I flattened my wings as much as I could while I continued to first get food, then sit down. The large table was completely filled with nuns and unhappy-looking teenage vampyres, so Iggy, Dylan, and I sat by ourselves in a corner, where we tried to ignore the drama unfolding around us. From the sounds of it, two people just broke up, and they weren't getting along very well.

I could feel their eyes on my back. Since that's where my wings are, I am paranoid about such things, so I turned so that my face was towards them. Dylan and Iggy adjusted accordingly, but we were all still very tense.

"They're staring at us," Iggy said in a low voice between bites. It wasn't a question.

"Just ignore them," I advised. "They're probably just curious about us and the way we showed up."

"How _was_ that, exactly?" Iggy asked. Oh right, I'd forgotten…

"Well," Dylan began, "After everyone else fell asleep, I started to hear yelling, so Max and I went to investigate…"

* * *

**I realized **_**after **_**I posted chapter two that many of you couldn't review if you'd already reviewed the first version of chapter two…or you were just being mean.**

**So I'd like you to answer a several questions (please):**

**1) What do you think of the summary for this story? I want to change it, but there's only so much room…  
****2) What do you think is gonna happen next?  
****3) What would you say if I told you that I was writing another Maximum Ride crossover? Or two?**

**That's all. And I suppose you don't **_**have **_**to answer them, but please at least review ;)**

**Thanks!**

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


	4. What to do with these Unruly Bird Kids?

**Soooo….it's been awhile… Sorry about that.**

**FYI: There will be a rather large reference to several events that occurred in _Tempted _in this chapter, which Zoey will refer to as "the extreme chaos of last night".**

**Recap:  
****~Zoey finds out about the giant tunnel thing Stevie Rae dug out, and gets a creepy feeling about said tunnel  
****~Zoey and Heath have a Kodak Moment  
****~Zoey lends Spirit to Stark so he'll heal and he gets better  
****~Zoey has a nasty breakup with Erik  
****~Aphrodite has a bloody-eye vision involving "chaff" stuff  
****~Stark comes to sleep with Zoey so Kalona cannot invade her dreams, but fails at life and _leaves_ while Zoey is still asleep (dream is in this chapter)  
****~Zoey wakes up and Erik is a jerk, hence the "previously tense atmosphere" Max, Dylan, and Iggy walked into last chapter  
****~Kramisha wrote a poem, which we have yet to learn the contents of  
****~Stevie Rae admits that there are BAD red fledglings**

**I think that's all…**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Zoey Redbird**

I shivered as I remembered my dream.

I'd been on the roof of a castle by the sea, with a gentle, tropical breeze blowing over my skin. It had been twilight, with the last, bloody rays of sunlight capping the waves as they arced toward the shore. Everything else along the empty shoreline was various shades of blue—sapphire, like my marks.

Goose bumps erupted across my skin, and it wasn't a reaction to the suddenly frigid wind. It was _him_—Kalona. I could feelhim with me. I whipped around, half expecting his dark wings to encase us both, only to find nothing. I suddenly got the feeling that he wasn't actually _here_, but just a part of him was. I shuddered—maybe it was the A-ya in me reaching out for him—before I realized that it felt as though he was pulling _away _from me. Like _he _was now avoiding _me._

And that was it; nothing happened. I just stared across the ocean, watching the crimson waves turn violet, then indigo, and finally a dull shade of sapphire. The whole time I had felt him, but only faintly, like a lingering…odor.

Add that to the extreme chaos of last night*, and the terrible morning I was having so far, I was _not_ a happy camper. Because of Kalona's presence in my dreams, and Erik's—for lack of a better term—sluttiness, my day was off to a rough start, but I was determined to make it better. I planned to go back to the House of Night to find out about all the stuff that'd happened in our absence, plus do some pondering over Aphrodite's vision and the poem Kramisha had given me a few minutes earlier.

After the nuns left for an evening prayer, I tried to engage everyone—as in the Twins, Stark, Heath, Damien, Jack, Stevie Rae, Aphrodite, and Darius—in a conversation about going back home, but when Max, Michael and Jeff walked into the room, they were too preoccupied with gawking at them. After Aphrodite had gone to tell them breakfast was ready, they came in, piled their plates with an almost unreasonable amount of food, and sat by themselves in a corner. They kept shifting uncomfortably, and I could tell that they knew we were watching them.

"Guys, come on!" I said softly, jerking Stark's, the Twins', and Damien's eyes away from them. "They must be freaked out—make this a little easier for them and quit staring!"

Hypocritically, I had to tear my own eyes away from them to say this. Now that she was awake again, something seemed really familiar about Max. I just couldn't shake the feeling that I'd met her somewhere before…

"Sorry," Damien immediately apologized, "it's just that I can't help but feel that there's something…different about them."

"Yeah," Heath murmured, sneaking another glance at them.

"I know _exactly_ what ya mean, Damien," Stevie Rae agreed. "Did y'all see Kalona's face when he saw her—Max?"

"What?" I asked sharply.

"Why, what happened?" Stark questioned at the same time, just as interested as I was.

"Well," Stevie Rae continued, her eyes flicking to Max for a brief moment, "After Grandma Redbird said to banish him with a blessin', I saw Kalona look at her. It was like he recognized her or somethin', and he yelled 'You!' and got madder than a hornets' nest real fast. It sure looked like he was gonna march on over to her and…well, I don't know what, but Grandma's blessin' stopped him right in his tracks."

It was my turn to gape at the new fledglings, and everyone else at the table did the same. They each changed positions as if they felt our gaze, and I looked away again, motioning for everyone else to do the same.

"Do you think she's _with_ him?" Jack asked, as though horrified at the mere thought.

"No," I murmured, getting that familiar _feeling_ in my gut. "They're going to help us."

"How?" the Twins and Aphrodite asked together, quickly exchanging dirty looks.

"Uh, I'm not exactly sure."

There was an uncomfortable pause, and only the clinking of metal against plates along with the soft buzz of Max, Michael, and Jeff's quiet talking filled the silence.

"And what about her filled in mark?" Erin started after a few moments.

"It's just like yours, Zoey," Shaunee finished.

"Except for the wings, Twin."

"True dat."

"A vampyre's markings generally mean something when given by Nyx," Damien—who was suddenly in total schoolteacher mode—explained. "The quality of these marks can communicate a certain talent the individual may possess, while their quantity can express Nyx's favor. For example, Zoey: Although the extensions all over your body don't appear to have a distinct shape, I believe that they symbolize your unique affinity for Spirit in quality, and Nyx's bestowed praise in quantity."

Shaunee and Erin narrowed their eyes.

"So…"

"What do _their_ wings mean?"

"And why do they _both _have them?"

Damien shrugged. "I guess only time will tell, unless _they_ suddenly decide to."

I couldn't help but steal a look at the trio once again. They were almost done eating. I turned forward again, finding that everyone's plate was almost empty over here as well.

"Well," Stevie Rae sighed after the moment's pause, in which we all glanced back at Max, Jeff, and Michael, "I guess we should just make 'em feel at home, ya know? That way we can get to know 'em, and they can get to know us, too, and everyone'll be happy in the end."

"Exactly," I agreed, hoping to finally get onto a different topic. "Anyway, we need to go back to the House of Night and see what kind of damage has been done."

"We're going home?" Jack asked hopefully.

"Yup," I replied through my last bite of eggs. After swallowing, I continued; "We need to see what kind of crap Neferet and Kalona did while they were here and try to fix it—ASAP."

"Good. It'll be nice to get back," Erin said happily.

"Yeah and—" Shaunee cut off quickly.

I looked at her to find out what was wrong, and saw that the three new kids were suddenly standing next to our table.

"Yes?" I prompted.

Max got straight to the point. "We need to leave for a while. How long can we be away from one of you guys without dying?"

"Until you start feeling real crappy," Aphrodite said unhelpfully.

"Just come back here when you start to feel sick," Damien explained as I glared at Aphrodite.

"But Z just said we're goin' back to the House of Night," Stevie Rae pointed out.

"Right," I agreed. "Well, why don't you come back to the House of Night with us so you know where it is, and then you can go wherever it is you need to go?"

Max shared a brief look with Michael and Jeff, then answered with a quick, "Great."

* * *

** Maximum Ride**

After Zoey's heated discussion about everyone fighting with each other—you know, once everyone had actually started fighting—we were finally on our way back to the mysterious "House of Night," which was apparently Vampyre School. It was really icy and cold outside, and Dylan, Iggy, and I were following the red-forehead-mooned kids, who were following a truck full of blue-forehead-mooned kids, which was following Zoey-and-friends on horseback. I'm not exactly sure how it worked, but Zoey and Shaunee were somehow melting the ice on the roads with their "affinity for fire". Whatever _that _means. I was too busy worrying about the younger members of my flock to pay attention to such nonsense.

Suddenly, a big red-forehead-mooned kid dropped back from his group to stand beside me. He eyed me for a moment before offering a casual, "Hey."

"Hey," I replied.

"I'm Johnny B," he continued. "So, you're one of the new fledglings, huh?"

"I guess so."

A moment's pause. "Do you know why your mark is filled in? And has wings?"

Apparently only full-grown vampyres' marks should be filled in, let alone have special markings. I had no idea why mine was full. The wings on the other hand…well, let's just label them with a capital D-U-H.

"No," I lied instantly, feigning concern. "Why? Is that bad?"

"No, just different," he assured me. "Zoey's the only other fledgling to have her mark filled in right away, and even she didn't get the swirly tattoos at the same time."

Great. I'd already inadvertently drawn attention to myself.

"How'd she get them?"

"Nyx blessed her with them after she did a bunch of crazy awesome stuff," Johnny B explained.

"Nyx?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Our goddess?"

"A _Vampyre_ Goddess?" Geeze, this was too much. And here I'd thought I was an expert on weird.

"Yeah." Johnny B was doing a very poor job of concealing his surprise. "She's, like, our deity. The vampyre equivalent of God. Or Buddha. Or—"

"I get it."

We walked in silence for a few minutes, him probably wondering if he should leave or not, and me trying to sort through the tsunami of new information I'd been thrown into so far. I had to make sure I kept our stories straight convincingly enough to keep them satisfied. It was mostly that Stark kid I was worried about; he seemed a little too suspicious for my liking. Unless I'm the one with the suspicions.

A massive building loomed in the darkness ahead, windows lit with probably the only working electric lights in the city. As we got closer, I noticed a flickering light coming from behind it, accompanied by a thin haze of smoke. The people in the car started emptying into the parking lot, and the horse riders climbed off their mounts.

I quickly caught up with Zoey and cleared my throat to grab her otherwise occupied attention.

"So now that we're here, Mike and Jeff and I are going," I said.

"You probably shouldn't—"

"I wasn't asking permission," I snapped, narrowing my eyes at the idiot who dared to oppose me; _Stark. _

"Just make sure you know how to get back here," Damien cut in. I nodded—I think I was starting to like this guy—grabbed Dylan and Iggy, and left.

"You two were awfully quiet," I muttered as and we walked away from prying eyes. And ears. I could see the edge of a forest not too far away, and steered us toward it.

"It's a lot to take in," Dylan confessed.

"Yeah," Iggy agreed, "And the feel of this whole place gives me the creeps."

"What do you mean?" I asked while I ushered them into the trees.

"I don't know," he said uneasily. "I can't explain it…"

I turned around to make sure there was no way they could see us, and carefully unfurled my wings. Iggy and Dylan did the same.

"Aw, _man _that feels good!" Dylan sighed.

"Yeah," Iggy and I agreed, stretching our own wings.

"You guys pulling them in like crazy, too?" he asked.

"There's no way I'm letting _them _know I've got wings," Iggy replied indignantly.

"Max!" a small voice exclaimed from above.

As I looked up, three dark forms dropped from the trees and instantly enveloped me in a feathery embrace.

"We were so worried!" Nudge cried. I bit back a laugh—if they thought _they'd _been worried…

"What happened?" Gazzy demanded. "Dylan came back without you and took Iggy but we didn't know—"

"Calm down," I soothed. "We're fine…for the most part."  
"You can't leave?" Angel gasped, simultaneously reading my mind and ruining my break-it-to-them-slowly plan.

"_What?_" Nudge squealed.

_Sorry, _Angel apologized.

"These marks mean that we're vampyres now," I explained, pointing at my face. "Or at least, we _will _be vampyres."

"So you're dead?" Gazzy demanded, looking more fascinated than horrified.

"Are you going to drink _blood?_" Nudge asked incredulously.

"Can you spread it to other people?" Gazzy pressed eagerly. "Like, if you bite them?"

"Can you still go out in the sunlight?" Angel jumped in.

"You _aren't_ dead, are you Max?" Nudge blanched and stared at me anxiously.

"No," I assured her, "I'm definitely not dead, and I'm pretty sure we don't sizzle in the sun, either. From what I hear, we don't have to drink blood until we're real vampyres, and no, Gazzy, it's not spreadable. You're just randomly picked by a creepy old vampire dude like the one that moonified our heads," I finished, gesturing to Iggy and myself.

"But Angel said you couldn't leave?" Nudge pointed out.

"Yeah," I admitted. "They say we can't leave until we're full vampyres."

"So?" Gazzy demanded. "We don't listen to orders! We'll leave whenever we want!"

"It's not that simple, Gaz," Iggy explained. "We literally _can't _leave, as in, if we leave, we'll die."

"They'll _kill_ you?" Nudge exclaimed.

I managed some damage control after their terrified eyes landed on me.

"No, no, no. If a fledgling—that's what they call you before you're a vamp—isn't near an adult vamp, their body gets really sick—like we were after we got moonified. And if it goes on too long…"

"You die," Angel finished in a small voice.

"Yes."

"Well, if _you_ have to stay, what about _us?_" Gazzy asked.

This is the part I was dreading. No way in _heck _was I letting them go off on their own, and I still didn't completely trust Dylan—especially after his little _incident_. Since then, he'd been acting perfectly fine and dandy, but it could be just that; acting. I didn't want the little guys hanging around the vampyre gang, either. Zoey-and-friends were suspicious enough as it was, even without a band of misfit orphans trailing along behind me.

I could send them home to live with my mom, but I didn't like the idea of our Flock being separated. Again. If something terrible happened, I could never forgive myself. So what was I supposed to do?

"We could hide out in the woods, like we've been doing," Angel suggested.

"It'll be like a campout!" Gazzy agreed excitedly.

"I think I heard them mention something about some underground tunnels near here," Iggy recalled. "They could stay there, and we could visit and bring them supplies."

"I could stay with them," Dylan offered, "Make sure they're safe and well-fed."

I thought about it. Besides the risk of being caught sneaking out to see them, I didn't see much of a downside.

"Alright," I decided. "I think that'll work."

* * *

** There you are!**

** I'm hoping to finish the next chapter _much_ more quickly than I finished this one (sorry again, guys!) but there's also another story I'm trying to update, along with keeping my grades up and all that jazz… bleh, school…**

** As always, I love to hear your input—how you like it, if it's good, what you think should/could happen next, who you like best, etc.—so reviews are appreciated!**

** Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


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